Jeremiah 50:39

50:39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there.

Ostriches ¹  will dwell in it too. ² 

But no people will ever live there again.

No one will dwell there for all time to come. ³ 

Jeremiah 25:30

25:30 “Then, Jeremiah, ⁴  make the following prophecy ⁵  against them:

‘Like a lion about to attack, ⁶  the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven;

from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly.

He will roar mightily against his land. ⁷ 

He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes ⁸ 

against all those who live on the earth.

Jeremiah 42:4

42:4 The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “Agreed! ⁹  I will indeed pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything the Lord replies in response to you. ¹⁰  I will not keep anything back from you.”

[50:39]  ¹ tn The identification of this bird has been called into question by G. R. Driver, “Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 (1955): 137-38. He refers to this bird as an owl. That identification, however, is not reflected in any of the lexicons including the most recent, which still gives “ostrich” (HALOT 402 s.v. יַעֲנָה) as does W. S. McCullough, “Ostrich,” IDB 3:611. REB, NIV, NCV, and God’s Word all identify this bird as “owl/desert owl.”

[50:39]  ² tn Heb “Therefore desert creatures will live with jackals and ostriches will live in it.”

[50:39]  ³ tn Heb “It will never again be inhabited nor dwelt in unto generation and generation.” For the meaning of this last phrase compare the usage in Ps 100:5 and Isaiah 13:20. Since the first half of the verse has spoken of animals living there, it is necessary to add “people” and turn the passive verbs into active ones.

[25:30]  ⁴ tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to make clear who is being addressed.

[25:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “Prophesy against them all these words.”

[25:30]  ⁶ tn The words “like a lion about to attack” are not in the text but are implicit in the metaphor. The explicit comparison of the Lord to a lion is made at the end of the passage in v. 38. The words are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[25:30]  ⁷ sn The word used here (Heb “his habitation”) refers to the land of Canaan which the Lord chose to make his earthly dwelling (Exod 15:13) and which was the dwelling place of his chosen people (Jer 10:25; Isa 32:18). Judgment would begin at the “house of God” (v. 29; 1 Pet 4:17) but would extend to the rest of the earth (v. 29).

[25:30]  ⁸ sn The metaphor shifts from God as a lion to God as a mighty warrior (Jer 20:11; Isa 42:13; Zeph 3:17) shouting in triumph over his foes. Within the metaphor is a simile where the warrior is compared to a person stomping on grapes to remove the juice from them in the making of wine. The figure will be invoked later in a battle scene where the sounds of joy in the grape harvest are replaced by the sounds of joy of the enemy soldiers (Jer 48:33). The picture is drawn in more gory detail in Isa 63:1-6.

[42:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “I have heard” = “I agree.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Qal.1.j and compare the usage in Gen 37:27 and Judg 11:17 listed there.

[42:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “all the word which the Lord will answer you.